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Catslyn's Shorties

Hey all,
This thread is for the assorted short stories that I am sometimes plagued to write. They make a nice break from my epics. This first one is entitled, "Stolen." Don't take it too seriously. Others will follow when the mad muse strikes me.

***

Adam walked into his father’s office feeling decidedly nervous. The king had been acting very strange at dinner the evening before. Very strange. And this morning, the prince had found a note that had clearly been slipped under his bedroom door while he was sleeping.

Dear Adam,
Please come see me and your mother after your morning ablutions. We have much to discuss.
Your Loving,
Father

So Adam had hurried through his morning bath, took special care in combing his hair and dressing neatly, then set off for the king’s office. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped inside.

“You wanted to see me, Father?”

An exceedingly strained smile on his face, Randor said, “Good morning, Adam,” and gestured the prince to a seat before his desk. Adam expected him to sit down then, but he went to stand before the fireplace instead. Hands clasped behind his back, the king stared into the flames.

Finally, just when the prince was beginning to doze off, the king said, “Adam, you know your mother and I love you?”

Sitting up straight, the prince mumbles, “Yes, Father. I know that.”
Sighing, shoulders slumping, Randor said, “Then I hope you’ll forgive us for lying to you all these years.”

“What?”

“Adam, you are not an only child. Your mother and I had two children, a son and a daughter, but one of them was stolen by our enemies while still a baby and spirited away. Now, praise the Elders, that lost child has been returned to us, and we can be a whole family once more.”

Jumping to his feet, the prince began to yell. “How could you lie to me about something like that Father? “How could you not tell me that I had a sister?”

Randor turned to face him, a guilty grimace on his face. “Because… because you never had a sister, Adam.” The prince gaped at him. “It was our son, the crown prince who was stolen. But we knew that the kingdom of Eternia would not long survive without a male heir to the throne, so we called upon the Sorceress of Grayskull to aid us in our time of need.”

The world spun dizzyingly as the prince of Eternia fainted in his father’s arms. When he awoke, he was laying on a couch against the back wall of the king’s office. He could hear three voices – his father, his mother, and a strangely familiar male voice.

“Thank the Elders you have returned to us at last, my son,” Randor was saying to that third voice. “Your sister did the best she could to be you, but she was always too soft-hearted and cowardly to be a real man.”

“Don’t worry, Father. You can return her to the princess she was meant to be, and I shall protect her,” that third voice said solemnly. Peering up over the edge of the desk, Adam saw a man who looked just like him but with more muscles and stern gaze.

Crying, the queen said, “At last, my little girl will be returned to me. I can’t wait to dress her up.”

Jumping up, Adam ran screaming from the room. Maybe Skeletor would let him join up? Maybe he could join a traveling circus? Or maybe he’d just throw himself off the nearest cliff?